Folate, Licorice and Pregnancy

It appears that folic acid plays a role in helping reduce the risk of elevated blood pressure during pregnancy, according to a new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology (156:806-12, 2002) (http://aje.oupjournals.org). Researchers from Boston University studied women who had given birth to non-malformed infants and who had participated in the Slone Epidemiology Center Birth Defects Study (1993-2000).

Researchers, led by Sonia Hernandez-Diaz, M.D., Ph.D., interviewed women within six months after delivery about the use of multivitamins (containing folic acid) and the occurrence of hypertension with or without preeclampsia (a condition that only occurs during pregnancy in which hypertension, swelling and protein in the urine are symptoms). Of the 2,100 women surveyed, 204 (9.7 percent) reported gestational hypertension. When researchers looked at the risk of developing gestational hypertension during the month after folic acid supplementation, compared to not having used folic acid that same month, it was found that only .6 percent taking the supplement experienced hypertension.

In an interview with the media outlet Reuters, Hernandez-Diaz said that if the results from this study were validated by further research, it would make sense for an expectant mother to take folic acid during her entire pregnancy and not just before and during her first trimester.

In the same issue, researchers from Finland and England reported that pregnant women consuming large amounts of licorice, or glycyrrhizin, have a shorter gestation period (less than 37 weeks). In a sample of 95 Finnish women who delivered pre-term children, heavy consumption of licorice (greater than 500 mg/week) indicated a two-fold increased risk of pre-term delivery versus the low consumption group (less than 250 mg/week). The researchers, led by Timo E. Strandberg, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Helsinki, Finland, concluded that heavy glycyrrhizin exposure may be a factor in pre-term deliveries.